Garden Day

Today we decided to work in the garden. We started out a 9 am for a trip to Lowe's where we had a debate on what kind of flowers we would buy. We decided it really didn't matter whether we got annuals or perrenials, but the color scheme was a pretty hot topic. I hate marigolds. I don't know why, but they just seem weedy to me. Of course the kids love marigolds. They are so oppositional. But it's no good to argue when it's a creative pursuit. I told them they could have their marigolds if I could have my cactus rose. 8 bags of soil and two pallettes of flowers later, we were back home to dig up the ugly gravel that the previous owners put down. What were they thinking. The kids filled their toy buckets with gravel and dumped it in the wheel barrow. It took five wheelbarrows full of gravel before we had our tiny area cleared. A neighbor kid came and helped us plant our flowers. Everyone had a different idea of how they should be planted. We ended upplanting them randomly, but making sure to have more marigolds in the back because they are taller. We also had to estimate how far apart nine inches should look. Then crammed them all together when we realized we had too many.

At lunchtime we discussed whether jellyfish have eyes, brains, or can feel touch. I wondered how their digestive systems operate. Josie told me that she knows for sure that jellyfish have five eyes. Four on each corner of their bell and one in the middle. She said bees are this way too, but I wasn't sure about that. She's usually right though. About a month ago, her grandpa showed her a cute picture of a penguin trying to wake up a polar bear. She said the picture was innacurate unless the animals were in a zoo, since penguins lived only south of the equator and polar bears were arctic creatures. He looked it up and she was right.

They spent some time outside after lunch in the back yard. Josie brought me a "pregnant" roly poly to inspect. It did have a weird fat white belly. She wanted me to see the eggs emerge. I told her that I don't have the stomach for that. Later she showed me the underside of another roly poly, it was covered in little yellow eggs.

They played in the sprinklers for about an hour. We'll call this recess, since it seemed like a good time for me to sit down with a beer.

We ate thai noodles for dinner. The kids gave it a chance then opted for macaroni and cheese. We discussed all the things we eat that are seeds. Are beans seeds too? Jake seems to think that if you can break open a green bean and plant the little beans inside that they must be seeds too. Will have to look that up tomorrow.

Right now they are rounding out the day's education with 20 year old issues of Cracked Magazine. Don't judge.